CII Cloud Summit

CII Cloud Summit www.telecomlive.com 32 TelecomLIVE September 2024 themomentumwhichwe have built over last couple of years. In the current stage of cloud adoption, enterprise have gone beyond just migrating there workloads to cloud tomaking the applications on cloud itself, harnessing the technology capacity to the fullest, enhancing innovation, improving customer experiences and to unlock new revenue streams. I nd i an o r g an i z a t i on s a r e increasingly adopting cloud tech- nology to enhance their business capabilities. In the current context, this includes intelligent applica- tions powered by Generative AI, native functional and data prod- ucts, and highly intuitive orches- tration platforms. The imperative is clear: embrace the cloud not merely as a tool but as an enabler of transformative change. India's Global Capability Cen- ters (GCCs) have become cloud engineering hubs for global compa- nies. Simultaneously, India has emerged as a significant market for cloud service providers (CSPs). These CSPs have rapidly estab- lished new cloud regions across Indian cities, expanding the era of cloud-native services. These ser- vices cater not only to Indian cus- tomers but also to global enter- prises. Data center players, offering value-added CSP and managed service provider (MSP) services, assist organizations in their grad- ual shift from legacy on-premises deployments to colocations. Dur- ing this transition, workloads are eventually shifted to hybrid multi- cloud solutions, combining in- house private and public clouds w i t h s c a l a b l e , f e a t u r e - r i c h hyperscale CSPs. Furthermore, the move by gov- ernment bodies and local entities toward adopting sovereign, open- source-based clouds is a welcome step. It adds to the country's diverse cloud capabilities, meeting the needs of various customer types. India stands on the precipice of an AI revolution, uniquely posi- tioned to emerge as a global leader in this transformative technology. Our nation isn't just a vast market for AI-driven solutions; it also has the potential to become a global hub for AI innovation, akin to its role in software and services over the past three decades. India possesses key factors that drive the growth of an AI ecosys- tem, both globally and within its own borders. With a population of 1.4 billion, India represents a sub- stantial market. Additionally, the country's digital economy is expanding rapidly, accompanied by increased internet penetration, smartphone usage, and digital payment adoption. As a result, India offers extensive opportuni- ties for AI implementation across v a r i o u s s e c t o r s , i n c l u d i n g healthcare, agriculture, and educa- tion. Furthermore, India boasts a skilled workforce, producing a significant number of STEAM graduates specializing in AI, data science, and software develop- ment. This talent pool ensures a steady supply of professionals poised to lead AI innovation in the future. The Indian start-up ecosystem is vibrant, with over 500 AI-focused start-ups, as per the latest count by NASSCOM. These start-ups are emerging and attracting significant investments from both interna- tional and domestic investors. Additionally, global corporations (GCCs) have established innova- tion hubs in India for their multi- national operations, leveraging the country's talent pool to develop and deploy AI solutionsworldwide. To fully harness the potential of AI, I urge the entire cloud and data center community to collaborate and create large-scale, high- performance AI platforms. These platforms will provide the compu- tational power of GPUs and the necessary infrastructure to sup- port AI research and development, propelling India to the forefront of the AI revolution. In the context of AI, the need for a sovereign cloud in India becomes even more critical. There are sev- eral reasons for this. First, data security and privacy are para- particularly within the telecom sector. We began this initiative in June 2021 and have made signifi- cant progress. Interestingly, other sectors beyond telecom are also showing interest in adopting simi- lar practices. For instance, Indian Railways approached us to evaluate their ICT infrastructure deployed nationwide. Likewise, the power sector is exploring these security measures. As we increasingly migrate criti- cal infrastructure to the cloud, ensuring that the cloud infrastruc- ture comes from trusted sources becomes paramount. I recommend thoroughly vetting the equipment sources for your cloud infrastruc- ture. Verify that they adhere to security standards. Both dimen- sions—functionality and secu- rity—deserve careful attention during infrastructure develop- ment. In the critical and emerging technology group, India leads the way within the Quad framework. Specifically, there's a track focused on AI in the standardization space. A standard working group is actively engaged in this effort, and they may collaborate with industry players to contribute to ongoing work. Now, let's address the timely intersection of cloud and AI. As organizations increasingly adopt cloud solutions, it's essential to enhance cloud capabilities for seam- less integration with AI tools. Ensuring that AI doesn't face per- formance bottlenecks due to cloud limitations is crucial. By optimizing cloud infrastructure, we can sup- port the rapid growth of AI applica- tions. India is poised to become a global leader in the AI revolu- tion Sunil Gupta, CII Cloud Summit and Yotta Data Service The large scale cloud adoption has accelerated India's innovation drive with organisation making substantial investment in there cloud infrastructure to maintain